Press Garden Zone
}} Press Garden Zone is the fifth Zone in the Mania Mode of Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus, and the sixth Zone in the Encore Mode of Sonic Mania Plus. It is an industrialized ancient ruin repurposed as a printing house by Dr. Eggman to print the doctor's propaganda.Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, PagodaWest Games (August 15, 2017). Sonic Mania. PlayStation 4. Sega. "Crate Expectations trophy: Wreak havoc at the propaganda factory." Concept and creation The industrialization under the eiji Shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo served as an influence for this Zone. Overview Act 1 takes place inside an old printing press factory in an ancient castle, which is used by Dr. Eggman to print his propaganda. Possessing a factory-like environment, wooden crate, metal crate frames and conveyor belts can be seen throughout the Act. In the background, rolls of newspapers are seen zooming by, having Sonic's face and the Phantom Ruby included on them. Snow-covered windows are also seen and pink vines grow everywhere. Act 2 takes place in a surreal winter wonderscape within a Japanese garden outside of the castle, which has been described as the "true beauty" of Press Garden Zone. This area is filled with cherry blossoms and ancient architecture. Snow covers as well the ground, glowing lanterns can seen in the distance, and snow and sakura leaves fall from the sky. Story Mania Mode Still on the hunt for Dr. Eggman and the Phantom Ruby, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrive in Press Garden Zone via some Hang Gliders. Along the way, they manage to destroy Eggman's local propaganda factory after making its guardian robot, Shiversaw, blow up. At the end of the Zone, Sonic and co. come under attack by the Heavy Shinobi, another one of the Hard Boiled Heavies, but are able to defeat him. Shortly thereafter, they find Eggman who is working hard on locating, or perhaps contacting, Metal Sonic on Little Planet, which is once again mechanized and chained to the planet's surface. Upon noticing Sonic, Tails and Knuckles however, Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby's power to warp the heroes to Stardust Speedway Zone. Encore Mode Having used some Hang Gliders to reach Press Garden Zone, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Mighty and Ray eventually land in Dr. Eggman's rebuilt propaganda factory. Resuming their mission to retrieve the Phantom Ruby, the heroes make their way through the factory and eventually destroy its guardian robot, Shiversaw, who takes the propaganda factory with it to oblivion when it blows up. At the end of the Zone, the group of heroes are attacked by the Heavy Shinobi, another one of the Hard Boiled Heavies. After defeating the robot, Sonic and co. find Eggman while he is working on locating, or perhaps contacting, Metal Sonic on Little Planet, which is once again mechanized and chained to the planet's surface. No sooner however, Sonic and co. gets spotted by Eggman, who then uses the Phantom Ruby to teleport the heroes to Stardust Speedway Zone. Gameplay Press Garden Zone Act 1 allows players to reach great jumping heights through the use of Launch Base Zone's rotating tubes. Local Conveyor Belts can also be used to achieve elevated jumps, having been modified so the player can bounce off of them, and by holding down a button the player can increase their bounce's height. Also, touching the wheels of a Conveyor Belt will catapult the player in the direction they are spinning. Act 1 also has lights on the walls and ceiling that, when broken, will cause doors to open and platforms to slide forth, thus creating new routes. There are also typewriter blocks in Act 1's background that serve as additional platforms. Several fragile-looking crates can be found throughout Press Garden Zone Act 1, which can be destroyed with the Bubble Shield's Bound Jump or the Fire Shield's Fireball Spin Dash. These crates sometimes hide Item Boxes, so destroying them might prove beneficial. There are also giant presses in Act 1 that can take the player to higher areas (like elevators) when stepped on. These presses are kept from crushing the player against the ceiling by crates stacked on them, although a press will gradually break through them and ultimately crush the player if they do not get off it quickly enough. Press Garden Zone Act 2 features snowblowers that can freeze the playable characters. When frozen, the player can slide around as an ice block to reach non-accessible areas, mow down obstacles and enemies, or shred tree trunks to access areas blocked off by the aforementioned trunks. This Act also has Spin Jump-susceptible ice blocks everywhere with different objects inside them (like Rings, Springs, Item Boxes and spikes). In terms of unique objects, Press Garden Zone Act 2 has turrets that shoot horizontal-moving Asterons. These Asterons both cause damage upon touch and act as temporary platforms when they get embedded in walls. There are also wood-cutting machines that grind up tree logs into wood chippings when the characters stand on the logs, although the characters can get hurt by the machines too if they touch them after the logs are shredded down completely. Act 2 also has Springs that can be used only once and ice spikes that can be destroyed with a Fire Shield. Description Act 1 Act 1 features a lot of Conveyor Belts that can be used to get through many obstacles in the act. Act 2 In Act 2, snowblowers are scattered all around, which can sent the player sliding across the floor in an ice block. This allows the player to destroy ice blocks that are littered throughout the Act. Bosses Act 1 The boss of Press Garden Zone Act 1 is Shiversaw, a floating robot armed with saws. At the start of the battle, the characters fall into a room full of crates. Shiversaw then arrives, and immediately shatters one of its blades against a crate. Shiversaw's method of attack is launching its sawblades towards the characters. These sawblades follow the characters' movements around the room to keep Shiversaw protected. To win, the player must lure Shiversaw into shattering its sawblades against hard objects, which leaves it vulnerable to attack. Hit it six times to defeat it. Act 2 The boss of Press Garden Zone Act 2 is the Heavy Shinobi, one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies. The Heavy Shinobi will arrive into the boss arena with a wide slash and attempt to catch the player off guard. It attacks by using its sword to freeze the characters or by throwing Asterons as exploding throwing stars. To defeat the Heavy Shinobi, he must be interrupted during his jumps, which stuns him and allows him to be hit. Eight hits will dispatch the Heavy Shinobi. Trivia *According to Aaron Webber, several fake Zone names were created for the levels in case information was leaked. One of the names for Press Garden Zone was "Backyard Dad Zone." Another Zone name was found in Sonic Mania's music files which was titled "Pulp Solstice". *This is the only Zone in Sonic Mania to not have its location confirmed or hinted. *Press Garden Zone features several references and Easter eggs: **There are several Badniks in this Zone that have appeared in earlier games in the ''Sonic'' series: ***Dragonfly - from Mushroom Hill Zone in Sonic & Knuckles ***Splats - from ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991) ***IceBomba - based on Bombbearer from Techno Tower in Knuckles' Chaotix ***Asteron - from Metropolis Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 **The horizontal rotating cylinders in Press Garden Zone Act 1 are similar to those from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. **The lightbulbs in Press Garden Zone Act 1 that make doors and platforms move when broken are similar to the red switch boxes from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. **The spinning platforms in Press Garden Zone Act 1 that the playable characters can revolve around on are similar to those from Sky Sanctuary Zone in Sonic & Knuckles. **The structures in Press Garden Zone Act 1 which shoot the player upwards are similar to those from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. **The snowblowers in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are used in the same way as they were in IceCap Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. **The idea of the player getting around in Press Garden Zone Act 2 by sliding around as a block of ice seems to be based on the same concept utilized in Diamond Dust Zone in Sonic 3D Blast. **The breakable ice cubes in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are the same as those from IceCap Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. **The hollow tree trunks that the player can pass through in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are similar to those from Aquatic Ruin Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. **In Press Garden Zone Act 2, there are projectiles shot from turrets that can get stuck on the walls and work as platforms. These projectiles behave similarly to the arrows fired during the Tonkachi Eggman boss fight in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. **In Press Garden Zone Act 1, the player can fall into a pit filled with ink jars that spawn Splats, as well as typewriter blocks which serve as a means for the player go make their way out. One row of these blocks spells out “STEALTH”, a reference to one of the developers of the game. ***In the Encore Mode version of Act 1 in Sonic Mania Plus, these blocks spell out “HUNTER”, a reference to one of the game’s composers. *In the initial release of Sonic Mania, a glitch allowed the player to skip the Heavy Shinobi boss fight in Press Garden Zone Act 2 as Tails by simply flying over to the end of the Act. Curiously, Eggman is located at the end of the Act but the transition cutscene will not play until the player hits the Capsule to end the Act. This has been fixed in the version 1.03 update released on September 2017. Music Videos References Category:Sonic the Hedgehog Category:Video game levels Category:Video game locations Category:Fictional newspapers Category:Fictional elements introduced in 2017